Tech Forward:

I’ve been meaning to share this information with you for some time now . . . oh, where does the time go?

Anyway, I was reading through the recent (OK, I know it’s from October!) Downtown Women’s Club “Online Networking: How Social is Your Media?” survey, and its results show that “businesswomen in all generations now prefer e-mail (82 percent) to the telephone (64 percent) when it comes to networking.”

I can honestly say I must agree.  I see telephone calls as a bit of an intrusion, and I usually only pick up the phone when I’m totally “over” e-mail (which lasts about an hour or so) or if I feel that it would be quicker to communicate what I have to say by voice mail or speaking directly to the person.

People are doing exactly as Faith Popcorn predicted. We’re cocooning. We’re sitting at our desks, behind our computers and not answering our phones–at least, most of the time, I am–and I know I’m not alone.

I know that I mostly connect colleagues that I think need to meet one another–and they connect me to people they feel I need to meet–via e-mail.  None of that calling back and forth stuff.

I recently had a very painful conversation with a businesswoman whom I respect immensely. She has a stellar track record, and I have watched her career skyrocket. I’ve always wanted to meet her. What made it so painful? The person who introduced us insisted that we talk on the phone.

Wrong move. I knew it was wrong when I agreed. It’s not that I didn’t want to meet her. Heck, no! I just think we should have built up our rapport a bit via e-mail first, and then we probably would have increased our chances of having a fabulous conversation–when it was time.

You can listen to all the pundits who say that e-mail is dead, but do so at your own peril.

Image credit: Crunch Gear

If you read my post a couple of weeks ago about Keeping Social Networking Simple, you know that I feel the pain of everyone who’s suffering from social media overwhelm.

The temptation with social media is to join every social networking community that launches, agree to blog for any company that will accept your posts, be a guest on anyone’s podcast and accept “friend” requests from people you barely know–with no visible results or connections–all in the name of being part of the conversation.

A few months later, you’re tired, stressed out and your business is suffering. You’re left wondering why your social networking efforts aren’t worth the megabytes they gobble up.

I’ll be leading a teleclass for the Downtown Women’s Club this Wednesday, November 19 at noon EST to show you specifically how to avoid that whole mess while still finding the time for social media. Yeah, you. The one sitting there reading this blog post.

Whether you’ve got five minutes or 50, I’m going to show you my personal low-tech, low-cost tips and tricks for getting the most out of social media while keeping your sanity in your back pocket.

Check out “Social Media & Time Management: How Do I Find the Time?” You need to be a member to listen in. Not a member? Tsk, tsk.

If you want to keep social networking simple and you don’t want to be bogged down with other social networking sites and tools, it looks like LinkedIn is calling your name.

The folks at LinkedIn understand that today’s busy-ness professional is focused on how to do more with less and squeeze every bit of utility out of one tool. They’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that it’s best to stick with one thing and master the heck out of it.

For the social networking newbie, you can’t beat LinkedIn to get started.

• It doesn’t require a lot of money–I’ve had a free account for years and have used it to network just fine.
• You create and update your own profile. You control whom you’re linked to and for how long.
• You can build your network as large or as intimate as you like and be a “connector” by introducing people in your network to one another.
• For increased visibility, you can create your own “R&D team” by asking timely, relevant questions and developing a dialogue with those who answer.

And, for all you Twitter-ized FriendFeed‘ers, if you’ve pooh-pooh’ed LinkedIn, its new offerings might be of interest:

• Share your reading list via Amazon.com
• Share files via Box.net (glad they finally got their act together)
• Share travel plans via TripIt.com
• Share your latest blog posts with WordPress and SixApart
• Share your latest PowerPoint presentation with SlideShare (if PPT is your thing)
• And if you’re nosey curious like me? There’s always LinkedIn’s own Company Buzz.

Don’t say I never gave you anything. Get going!